Thursday, November 19, 2015
Reputation
Among my extended family back in my hometown, I have a strong reputation. I have a reputation based off of academics; my parents and the majority of my extended family emigrated here from Ethiopia. With that being said, I am the first of all my cousins to attend a university. I also was fortunate enough to gain close to a 95% scholarship; I was on math honor society, multiple clubs and sports, obtained a 30 on my ACT, and graduated on honor roll. I have always had success academically since I was a child, more so from natural ability rather than work ethic. My family always tells me I am lucky because they know I do not spend day and nights studying for exams. In high school, I prioritized my social life over academics yet still had profound success. This helped form my reputation which of some of my family members admitted to me that they envied. In second grade, I passed a math test that put me into fast paced mathematics with three other students. The teacher at the time told us we were two years advanced in our mathematics level. Thanks to that, every standardized test was a walk in the park for me. Combine this with years of intense pressure from my parents who themselves did not have the luxury of being able to attend college and the result is where am I now, at a legitimate school such as the University of Illinois. The means in which I plan on continuing my reputation is by proving my success to be meaningful. The way people view me does not change the way I plan to make life decisions. More importantly, I use my previous success access as motivation to work hard to land a reputable job, which will provide me room for growth and a great learning experience. The reason I came to the university of Illinois is to set myself up for my life post education: my career. Academics have done a lot of great things for me and have set me up to be successful, as I will be graduating with very little to no debt. I have never felt the need to abandon my academics and I will never consider doing so until I have finished my bachelor’s degree here. The goal is to graduate and then pursue work; hopefully sometime down the road I may come back to school for something such as an MBA but only work permitting. My reputation not only has been a reassuring factor in my academics but it has also been a huge confidence and self-esteem booster. Sometimes I get distracted from my success because of the peers I am surrounded by and the competitive environment the classroom gives the students. This is in comparison to my cousins, none of who have successfully graduated from any type of university. The reasoning for this is I do not like to compare myself to people who I am positive do not have the same ambitions as myself and that is why I like competition. My high school was very competitive and I believe that prepared me heavily for college because in every class it was almost a battle to get the best grade on the test.
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Reading this, let me address some general issues that may or may not be relevant in your case, before turning to the specifics of what you said.
ReplyDeleteThe first is that K-12 may have been a big fish in a small pond experience but then going to college is something of a shock because everyone else in attendance also was a big fish at their schools, so those comparisons with other that went one in high school may cut the other way in college.
Tied to that is the difficulty level of college courses compared to classes in high school. Where a student could just bet by on innate smarts in high school, college may be quite challenging in its intellectual demands, and then requires quite a lot of effort to get the student to think in a more sophisticated manner.
The last bit is about college being competitive. Learning is not fundamentally a competition, in the sense that if one students learns a lot it doesn't block others from doing likewise. Grades, however, are a different matter, especially in classes where there is grading on a curve. That can make classes competitive, as only so many will get an A.
I'm not sure which if any of these directly applies to you, but particularly on the issue of effort I wonder if you've modified your approach since you were a first year student, as you've come to learn what is needed to do well in college. I also wonder whether you found anyone on campus who might have helped you consider these matters and possibly encouraged you to put in more effort with your studies.
You did not talk about college also being a time that gives students a lot of personal freedom, to enjoy life. So some cast the issue as finding a balance - study hard enough to do well but also allow time for enjoyment with friends. This balance part is a life lesson that college should teach students. Not all learn it. Some are party animals and their academic performance suffers as a consequence. Others are workaholics and while their academic performance is high, their emotional reserve is not.
Being a first generation student in college, these things may be harder for you than for other students, who have more support on these issues from their family. So I wonder whether you've worked them through in a way that will serve you well after you've graduated. It would be good to consider how this has played out for you.
I definitely agree with your big fish in a small pond reference; i went to a very reputable high school so I felt that no matter where I went I would be prepared solely off of my natural brainpower. College was quite the wake up call because in order to truly be successful I needed to put forward the work in. I guess naturally I am driven by competition and the desire to be the best helps motivate me to study when otherwise I would rather play video games or take a nap. Once I have came to college, I completely changed the way I approached the classroom after my first year. I finally understood how college is a different ball game and it requires different tactics. There is plenty of freedom and the key to being successful in college is self discipline. You do not have 8 hour days of class followed by 2 and a half hours of practice after school like I use to in high school. I have maybe 3 or 4 hours of class a day and then the rest of the day is up to me; whether i spend it watching 5 hours of netflix or 2 or 3 hours doing that extra credit paper i do not need to do is entirely up to me. As far as being a first generation student, I honestly very rarely feel the disadvantages that may be considered upon me. Not denying that there are some, it is just at this point in my life I am entirely immune to them and able to rely on outside sources such as academic advisors, internet, etc.
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